Lögberg-Heimskringla - 02.12.1994, Blaðsíða 1

[ Lögberg )
neimsKringia
The lcelandic Weekly
Lögberg Stofnaö 14. janúar 1888 Heimskringla Stofnaö 9. septeniber 1386
Inside this week:
Kleinur Recipe..........................2
Ambassador Einar Benediktsson...........3
Review of Arnason's latest book.........4
Grímkell's Story, tenth installment.....5
Einar's Anecdotes.......................6
Children's Corner.......................7
Upcoming Events.........................7
108. Árgangur Föstudagur 2. desember 1994
108th Year Publications Mail Registration No. 1667 Friday, 2 December 1994
Númer 42
Number 42
lcelandio
News
The Magical Egg:
■ The Milk producer's Co-oper-
ative received the "Magical
Egg" award this year for its
product "Energy Milk" which
was marketed earlier this year.
The Magical Egg trophy is an
award given for the best results
in the area of food production
and is given out on the Food
Products' Day by the Food and
Nutritionalists Association.
"Food Production and Human
Food" was the heading for this
year's Food Production Day.
Energy Milk is a new milk prod-
uct, which is almost as low in fat
as skimmed milk, but has the
appearance and texture of milk.
According to the judges, Energy
Milk is an attractive food choice
especially for adults. It has
become popular and could
increase consumption of low-fat
milk products.
Chess master:
■ Áslaug Kristinsdóttir is the
newly crowned female chess
master of lceland. Áslaug won
the title before in I979 and
I983, but has not played regu-
larly for the last nine years, as
she has been taking care of her
eight year old twin daughters.
She expects to get back to
playing more chess in the
future. Her daughters, Hulda
and Birna are both interested in
chess. Áslaug said that the first
two games were difficult,
against Harpa Ingólfsdóttir and
Svava Sigbertsdóttir who were
in third and fourth place; the
other games were easier.
Áslaug won a11 the games.
GUNNUR ISFELO
George Johnson
Honored
If Manitoban George Johnson is
not the most distinguished living
Westem Icelander, it is difficult
to think of anyone who could beat
him out for the position, even in a
community that has produced men
and women of great distinction out
of all proportion to their small num-
bers in North America.
Dr. Johnson served in the Second
World War as an officer in the Royal
Canadian Navy before entering pri-
vate medical practice in Gimli. He
won election to the Manitoba legis-
lature, where he served as minister
of education, introducing radical
and long-overdue improvements to
the province’s school system. After
choosing to retire from public life,
he again practiced as a doctor until
his retirement, when he was active
in many community projects before
being called upon to serve as lieu-
tenant-governor of Manitoba. At
some time during all of this he found
the time to meet, court and marry
Doris Blondal (watch for a feature
on the fascinating Mrs. Johnson in
an upcoming issue ofL-H.)
The awards and tributes Dr.
Johnson has received would take a
book to list and explain in any
detail, but two are both outstanding
and unusual. This year he received
the highest award the govemment of
Iceland can bestow when he was
installed into the Order of the
Falcon. This year once again he was
honored. The Canadian govemment
recognized his life-long achieve-
ments by making him an Officer of
the Order of Canada. The Order of
Canada is the Canadian govern-
ment’s highest honor for its citizens.
Lögberg-Heimskringla joins oth-
ers in the Icelandic-North American
community in paying tribute to a
Great Canadian and a Western
Icelander of whom we can all be
proud. T.O.
George Johnson receives award from
Govemor General Raymond Hnatyshyn.
NPI & L.H gíve boost to
lcelanders' social actívífíes
What is the INL?
My immediate reply — the point
of contact for matters common
to the descendants of the
Icelandic pioneers in North America.
My afi and amma, Ingimundur and Asta
Sigurdson, and my father, Johann
Straumfjörð, were members of the
Þjóðræknisfélag. Before Lundar’s Silver
Jubilee in 1947, the Lundar chapter was
formed. My father was eventually presi-
dent of this chapter and then the
Icelandic National League of North
America. My mother, Helga, is the cur-
rent chapter president. The INL/NA is
part of me, part of my heritage.
However, I now understand what the
INL/NA can be for my children.
What we have in North America is a
complete community, based on our
Icelandic heritage. Rather than being the
passive umbrella organization which
surrounds, protects, excludes, and gets
blown away in a good strong wind, the
INL/NA is the tip of a swift arrow with
the auxiliary organizations as the head
and the various chapters as the shaft. As
the tip, the INL/NA is the central con-
Cont’d p. 2
-says Ambassador
Einar Benediktsson
“Publication and reading of papers
and newsletters has for decades been
one of the most solid foundations of
Icelanders’ social activities in the U.S.
and Canada,” said Ambassador to the
U.S. and Canada Einar Benediktsson
in an interview recently.
“Such papers link Icelanders with
one another and maintain their her-
itage. Lögberg-Heimskringla is the old-
est paper and it is still going and doing
a fine job.
“But there are other publications
which play an important role in this
area, and I’d especially like to mention
the work of Iceland Review and News
from Iceiand, which have been pub-
lished regularly for years to the enjoy-
ment and enlightenment of thousands
of Icelanders and friends of Iceland.”
Benediktsson continued: “I recall
what a service it was in years gone by
to receive Iceland Review at the
embassy; later News from Iceland
assumed the task of cariying informa-
tive news and general articles on every-
thing going on in Iceland.
“These publications have certainly
made it easier for the embassy to fulfill
its responsibility for disseminating
information. The articles are written
by specialists in their own fields, and
the result each month guarantees that
the main news items make their way
to all the publications’ readers.
“This was of benefit to us at the
embassy. I have given many lectures
on Iceland at clubs, lectures that have
been well received, seeing how they
drew on information I found in these
two publications. It is an easy task to
write such addresses with a data base
like that at one’s disposal.
“Publication and reading of news-
papers and magazines is necessary for
Icelanders overseas. Thus I expect
papers such as News From Iceland to
strengthen further.
“Additionally, I think that there is
also room beside it for a paper such
as Lögberg-Heimskringla, which,
among other things, reprints material
from NFI, and newsletters from the
Icelandic associations, many of which
are well done, but which do not boast
the same circulation as NFI.
“Together, these papers and
newsletters can foster and strengthen
the social activities of Icelanders in
the U.S. and Canada,” commented
Ambassador Benediktsson.
Courtesy News Frotn Iceland